Handcuffs and Lace 25 - The Policeman's Balls Read Online Free PDF

was holy, Josh was going to wait until the man came home.
    Anger clamped Josh’s jaw. When he got to Brian’s, there was no car in the drive. That didn’t mean he wasn’t home though. The car could be in the garage. Josh got out and pounded on the front door. After a couple of minutes, Brian still hadn’t answered and Josh had to face the reality that he wasn’t home yet.
    Mrs. Jackson poked her head out of the neighboring duplex. “Officer, is there something I can help you with? Little Brian isn’t in trouble is he?”
“No, ma’am. Nothing to concern yourself with,” he assured her.
“Well, now, I think you might be fibbing. A police officer doesn’t try to bang down a door unless he has something or other on his mind,” she contradicted him.
“When does he usually get home?”
The old lady folded her arms across her quilted robe, drooping chest. Her white curls shook with faint involuntary tremors. “Any time now. You can wait inside if you like.”
“No thank you.”
She pinned him with a look. “Don’t you go hollerin’ at that boy. He means well. Poor kid has been trying everything to get your attention, and now you come beatin’ down his door like a rhino humpin’ a log.”
“Ma’am?” he asked as the unpleasant image assaulted his mind.
“Do you know he circled Lake Michigan Drive four times before you pulled him over? Why do you think he did that? Hm? And trying to pop his own tire on your patrol route? He knew you’d be there to bring him home if he managed it. You wouldn’t think so, but he’s a bright boy.”
Some of the heat went out of his anger. He’d suspected something was up with the tire, but he’d never have guessed the extent.
“He did. Went about it the wrong way, if you ask me.”
Josh crossed the yard to her. “Gone about what, Mrs. Jackson?”
Her black penciled brows rose high on her forehead. “He should have stopped wasting time and just told you he was interested. There’s not a lot of time in this life. He should have told you the minute he knew.”
Josh cocked his head to the side. “He told me, just not until last night.”
“You didn’t get that from me,” she told him with an elaborate wink. “I’m going back inside. Too hot out here for a delicate flower like myself.”
“Mrs. Jackson?” he called, stopping her.
She turned expectantly.
“Did you know he sent a bunch of roses to the precinct for me?”
Mrs. Jackson waved her hand. “Oh Lordy, he didn’t do that. I did. Brian’s a good kid, but he needs a little push now and then.”
Stunned, he watched Mrs. Jackson hobble back inside and shut the door on him. She’d sent them? Holy fuck had she made a mess.
* * * *
Brian padded to the kitchen to pour himself a second cup of coffee. The latest graphic design he’d been working on was waiting for him in the other room. He didn’t like bringing work home, but it had been a distracting couple of weeks. Thoughts of Officer Severn kept popping up, and Brian was beginning to wonder if he needed another ploy to run into the man.
The doorbell rang. Brian ran his palm down his bare chest and shrugged. Anyone who was stopping by at midmorning on a Saturday would know he was bumming around in old sweat shorts.
He reached the door and pulled it open with a flourish and a smile. His smile froze as panic seized him.
“Hi,” Officer Severn, in plain clothes, said.
Brian blinked. He closed the door with a flick of his wrist, slamming it on the apparition. He stood motionless. A tentative knock rapped against the heavy wood door. Brian squinted at it, pulled the door open again.
“Hi?” Severn said.
Brian’s eyes bulged. He could feel them bulging. “Hello, Officer Severn.”
Severn pushed his hands into his jeans pockets. “I’m off the clock. I’m just Josh.”
“Josh,” Brian said, trying the name out on his tongue. “Did you want to come in?”
Severn—Josh smiled brightly, nearly making Brian choke on a breath.
“Sure. Thanks.”
Josh